While roses have been cultivated in Europe and China for thousands of years, they weren't usually grown in roses gardens (gardens devoted to roses).
Plants play a symbolic role in classical Chinese gardens, while China is a treasure-trove of ornamental plants, Chinese gardens tend to be dominated by a few plants which are strongly symbolic. The rose doesn't seem to have been among the favorite plants for Chinese gardens. Evergreens play an important role in Chinese gardens, so it is not surprising that the evergreen roses, such as the yellow Rosa banksia 'Lutea' were preferred over deciduous roses. The deciduous roses seem to have been primarily grown for cutting and probably for creating fragrances.
In Europe, roses were first grown to produce fragrances; and to provide rose petals for ceremonial uses. Roses were also used as medicine, this was the original use for Rosa gallica, also known as the Apothicary's Rose.
The ancient Romans loved roses, and they often grew roses in their ornamental gardens, but I have never come across a reference to an ornamental rose garden. The ancient Romans often grew roses in their vegetable gardens to provide roses for the making of garlands, the rose was one of the most popular flowers the for making of garlands.
The early Christians associated roses with pagan rites, but the Roseta (little rose garden) of St. Benedict, who lived during the 6th Century, was the prototype for the rose gardens in Benedictine monastic tradition. There are some other references to rose gardens which indicate that roses may have been grown in monastic gardens which were devoted to roses. Roses were certainly grown in monastic gardens throughout the Middle Ages. By the 12th Century, roses closely associated with the Virgin Mary. There may have been rose gardens which were devoted to the Virgin Mary, but the segregation of plants in special types of gardens simply wasn't characteristic of Medieval gardens. Herbs which were grown for medicine were usually grown in special gardens, each herb was given it's own bed as a protection against mixing herbs when gathering them. If there wasn't a practical reason for segregating plants, Medieval gardeners preferred to grow them together; this point of view was characteristic of most European gardens up until the 19th Century. Roses were often grown in Renaissance gardens, but I don't know what role roses played in the grand 17th Century parterres. Some rose varieties were bred by the Dutch during the 17th Century, so there must have been a market for them. Roses were undoubtably grown as cut flowers, and for the manufacture of perfume, but I don't know of any 17th Century rose gardens.
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